a man chasing dreams

Interesting Lessons Taught at Unsuspecting Times

Posted on June 9, 2013

Mowing the lawn is not really an epic feat. Let’s be honest…it’s more of a chore than anything else. But halfway through the uneventful task of trimming the grass, I was taught something pretty significant. The device that runs the back wheels which pushes the lawnmower along gave out, and I was left with a half cut lawn and a heavy piece of machinery.

What do I do?

Well, in my mind there were a couple of options. Leave the grass half cut and blame it on the lawnmower, bother my dad about it who was already dealing with a major debacle with the sprinkler system, or just try to push the damn thing. Needless to say, that lawn looks great. But it took a whole lot of effort in the hot sun to get that grass cut.

But what could I possibly learn from this?

When life gets tough and you run out of natural talent – and the testing times come rolling your way – what are you going to do when life gets tough? Are you going to leave your dreams and goals half realized? Or are you going to keep pushing no matter how significant the fears, doubts, and insecurities are? To me this correlates perfectly to what happened with the lawn today. Realize your final vision or always be left with an unkept piece of your life. The choice is simple.

Reminds me of Philippians 3:13-14 ‘Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’

Or one could always remember the saying, “If your house is on fire, make toast”. The front wheels on our mower broke, rendering it unmovable by any means. We now have a lovely meadow, a wide variety of insect life, many more birds than we ever saw before, a beautiful smell to wake up to every day, and a good deal more leisure with which to enjoy it all. In addition, I have discovered a new skill, that of using a scythe in a judicious manner. It’s easier than controlling a lawn mower, which I have no intention now of getting repaired or replaced.

This has to do a lot with my weight loss journey. It is already hard to lose weight on its own but there are time where you are to work harder and harder to actually see the light at the end of the tunnel. There will be things in life that will constantly push you down, but how you get back up is the most important thing, that defines you as a person. That no matter how many times you fall, you always manage to pull yourself up. Sometimes you need to sacrifice more and work harder to actually achieve greatness but you know that it will be worth it in the end 🙂

I laughed at this so much! Our lawnmower had a similar failure (on ours its the front wheels that house the self-propell mechanism) about two months ago. I have been mowing like it’s 1985 ever since. It sucks, but I am too broke (and also lazy) to get it fixed. Personally, I try to think of it as a ‘two-birds-with-one-stone’ kind of thing: I’m making my lawn presentable and also getting a workout!

I suppose one needs to be in the space where our energy lies. In case this warrants us to shift away after leaving the lawn mowing half done, so be it. But could you explore options of getting the work done in other ways?

I’ve to agree with you in the gym. I always think to myself, you know, i gotta stop looking at others carrying more weight that me, and understand my limits. I think of the accomplishment and that feeling of when you complete something.